Texas A&M fullback Cagan Baldree learned life lessons...

1of4Cagan Baldree moved from the line to fullback and has earned a starting spot.Photo: Texas A&M Athletics, Photographer / Texas A&M Athletics

2of4A&M starting fullback Cagan Baldree is joined by his mother, Shannon Royce, and her husband, J.R. Royce, after the Lamar game last week.Photo: Baldree Family / Baldree Family

3of4Cagan Baldree, left, at age 5 with brother Callahan, has made good on his desire to play for the Aggies.Photo: Baldree Family / Baldree Family

4of4Cagan, left, and Callahan, right, Baldree were often coached in youth basball by their late father, Cody.Photo: Baldree Family / Baldree Family

COLLEGE STATION — A beloved youth league coach in Carthage, Cody Baldree used sports to teach his children about life. When facing death, a steadfast Cody kept teaching.

“Our family foundation is strong, and there were a lot of lessons learned from what my dad was going through,” said Cagan Baldree, Texas A&M’s starting fullback. “He took it and used it as a tool to teach us about the hardships of life. It made our family bond even stronger.”

In 1991, Cody had hoped to continue his football career past Carthage High. But he stayed in town to help care for his own sick father, his love of family outweighing all else.

“Cody’s dad died of cancer when Cody was 19,” said Shannon Royce, Cagan’s mother. “Cody loved football, but he stayed home with his dad instead of going to college. In a way, it’s kind of like Cagan is living the dream his daddy had — a dream he passed on to his boys.”

Cody, a farmer and rancher who loved Texas A&M and Aggies football, died in July 2014 following a six-year fight with leukemia. Cagan was 16 and entering his junior year at Carthage High.

“My dad fought it tooth and nail,” Cagan recalled. “It definitely didn’t beat him, but he did pass, and he’s in a good place now. My dad was my hero — I think about him all the time.”

The No. 17 Aggies host No. 8 Auburn on Saturday, and Cagan is expected to make another start for A&M and coach Jimbo Fisher, who reintroduced the position of fullback to the Aggies last season.

Cagan had just received his driver’s license when Cody passed away, a godsend among heartbreak. Cagan’s younger brother Callahan, now a pitcher at Tyler Junior College, was 14 and little sister Caroline was 11 when they lost their father.

“Cagan became the man of the house at 16, in the truest sense,” Shannon said. “I had a full-time job and a lot going on. Cagan would take Caroline to dance lessons, he would pick up Callahan from practice, or he would take them to school. We have some land, and Cagan would get on the tractor and take care of the bush-hogging and take care of the place.

“Callahan did his fair share, too, but with Cagan being the oldest, he took it upon himself to take care of us. He did it because he felt like that’s what he needed to do.”

Shannon had intended to attend A&M out of Carthage High, but met Cody, fell in love and chose to stay closer to home by attending Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches. The hometown sweethearts married in November 1996 and soon began raising a family in DeBerry, just northeast of Carthage.

“This has been surreal,” Shannon said of sitting in the Kyle Field crowd with her kids and husband, J.R. Royce, and watching No. 43 play for the Aggies. “When they were little, the boys got Aggie football uniforms for Christmas. This has been a dream of Cagan’s for a very long time.”

Cagan bypassed the chance to play at smaller colleges out of Carthage High in 2016 for the opportunity to walk on at A&M, where he spent the first few years as a backup offensive lineman.

Last year Cullen Gillaspia switched from linebacker to fullback, and wound up a seventh-round selection of the Texans in the 2019 NFL draft and made the roster. The 6-4 Baldree, a junior, approached Fisher in January about shifting from the offensive line to fullback and has since slimmed down to 250 pounds from 275.

“The thing you don’t realize about him is he can catch the football,” Fisher said. “He said, ‘I can catch, coach,’ and I said, ‘All linemen say they can catch, because they want the ball.’ Then we put him in there, and he can catch the ball very well.”

The unselfishness Baldree showed in his family’s biggest time of need? That inherited trait carried to the football field — one more reason he earned the Aggies’ starting gig.

“He’s tough, smart, physical and he’s got really good ball skills,” Fisher said. “Those guys are hard to find, especially at fullback. It’s a selfless role, because most of the time it’s just going to be blocking. He’s a tremendous, tremendous human being, and I’m very proud of him.”

Baldree is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes on campus, and said his faith continues carrying him — just as it did when his hero died five years ago.

“God has been so faithful,” Baldree said. “We know my dad is doing good now, and we know one day we’ll see him again.”

Brent Zwerneman is a staff writer for the Houston Chronicle covering Texas A&M athletics. He is a graduate of Oak Ridge High School and Sam Houston State University, where he played baseball.

Brent is the author of four published books about Texas A&M, three related to A&M athletics. He’s a four-time winner of APSE National Top 10 writing awards for the San Antonio Express-News, including a second-place finish for breaking the Dennis Franchione “secret newsletter” scandal in 2007.

His coverage of Texas A&M’s move to the SEC from the Big 12 also netted a third-place finish nationally in 2012. Brent met his wife, KBTX-TV news anchor Crystal Galny, in the Dixie Chicken before an A&M-Texas Tech football game in 2002, and the couple has three children: Will, Zoe and Brady.